ABSTRACT

In 2004, high school dropout was emerging as a critical national policy challenge. Massachusetts state policy makers, with urging from local and community advocates, began to turn their attention to what, by 2007, many came to refer to as a "dropout crisis." In 2005, Youth Transitions Task Force (YTTF) commissioned research reports that quantified the impact of the dropout crisis in economic and societal terms and served as a rallying cry for YTTF members, attracting attention not only in Boston but across the state. The overall policy research task was to inform the recommendations of the final report of the Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission through three distinct research projects. In addition to increasing understanding of the topics described already, the primary objective of the research was immediate and tangible: the team had to produce research that would be easily accessible to commission members and would form the basis for their decisions about proposed recommendations.